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Digital print technology will advance rapidly over the next 10 years, increasing market value from $167.5 billion in 2025 to $251.1 billion in 2035 (constant pricing), according to the latest research from Smithers. Expert analysis in its new market report The Future of Digital Printing to 2035 tracks these technical developments and how they are responding to shifting dynamics in print buying, requiring greater agility, sustainability, and innovation from print service providers (PSPs).

Digital is increasingly the focus for OEMs across the world, with multiple new electrophotography, inkjet, and hybrid presses under development. In 2025, digital press lines will consume over 304,000 metric tons of ink and toner worldwide, costing $14.5 billion, while investment in new digital print machinery will be $5.75 billion. Operations are now being enhanced by more comprehensive post-sale service and support contracts, often linked to advances in software, these present a fast growing secondary revenue channel for OEMs.

Inkjet vs. Electrophotography

As witnessed at recent trade shows, inkjet is increasingly the preferred digital technology and is absorbing the majority of R&D investment. Smithers analysis shows this will be reflected in future machine sales. Inkjet already accounts for 72.0% of contemporary new equipment sales. While demand for electrophotography machines will continue to grow slowly through to 2030, revenue will then start to decline, and by 2035 inkjet's share of the new equipment sales will reach 81.9%, equivalent to $6.49 billion.

Across both technologies there will be a shift towards larger, higher-productivity machines as digital moves towards a mainstream option for many printed goods. This trend is mutually supportive as they lower the unit cost of printing on digital making, it more competitive on medium and long runs creating an economic imperative for to PSPs to switch from legacy analog press lines.

B2 Toner Print

In toner, this trend favors big B2 sheetfed machines, capable of delivering several million A4 prints per calendar month. This larger format is preferred by many graphics print businesses with significant volume, because it offers economies of scale over SRA3+ machines, and reduces labor needs.

The sector is dominated by HP Indigo. It successfully launched B2 machines at drupa 2012, and had sold over 1,600 of its large-format wet toner presses by 2025. Xeikon remains active in the webfed toner segment, with duplex presses for graphics and simplex model for labels. At drupa 2024, Fujifilm debuted its Revoria GC12500—an oversized B2 machine with an imaging size of 750 x 662mm capable of printing 6 x A4 prints per sheet. In contrast, both Kodak and Xerox have discontinued their developments of high-volume toner print.

High-Speed Inkjet

High-speed webfed presses are the most promising format for inkjet print, with a range of installations from 420mm up to 3m wide printing in single pass. The segment has matured rapidly with multiple OEMs offering machines tailored to the speeds, media, and quality levels required in a wide range of publications, security, graphics, and different packaging markets.

In 2025, Smithers estimates that there will be over 650 high-speed webfed press lines sold worldwide, for $1.6 billion—approaching double the depressed 2020 market in value terms.

The linear speeds available in inkjet printing—especially when using aqueous inks—reached 410 m/min. in 2024 with the first installs of the Kodak Prosper 7000 Turbo, and there will be steady increases in future, with 500 m/min. possible by 2030 even on the widest webfed machines.

Continued improvement is required, as established OEMs in the segment are being challenged by Chinese and other Asian press builders, moving beyond their previous focus on lower-cost inkjet machines, with little sophistication. Several demonstrations given at drupa 2024 showed this is changing, with good-quality results printed and various inspection systems available to identify and remedy artifacts and missing nozzles.

Other Inkjet Formats

Similar advances are being seen in other inkjet formats with higher throughput models being launched, driving productivity upwards, and providing a wider variety of presses across the price ranges for most print businesses. Over the 10 years to 2035, narrow-web inkjet will be the fastest-growing sector, but high-speed web will remain the most lucrative format. Flatbed multi-pass machines will be replaced by more productive single-pass engines.

For narrow-web inkjet, work is moving beyond short-run label commissions to include flexible packaging formats, lidding films, blister backs, sachets, wraps, small-format flow wraps, as well as light cartons, envelopes, and security print. The popularity of wider machines with print widths of 440mm or 510mm is rising in response. By 2035, Smithers predicts the typical narrow-web inkjet press will be wider with 440mm and 510mm common, running with resolutions of 1,200+ dpi at 150 m/min. with autonomous set-up widely used, including inline and nearline finishing.

Wide-format multi-pass inkjet has been developing for over 30 years, and as a more mature segment with solutions already available for all applications, growth across 2025–2035 will be slower.

In contrast, the single-pass sheetfed inkjet press market is rapidly expanding as manufacturers solve issues of sheet handling, drying, and control. In 2024, the performance of B2 and B1 format machines was significantly upgraded with Landa showing 11,200 sheets per hour (sph) and Canon pushing B2 to 8,700 sph. Several new models were shown in Düsseldorf last year, including Canon's  varioPRESS iV7, Ricoh's very high-quality Z750 machine, Komori's J-Throne 29 developed in partnership with Konica Minolta, and Konica Minolta's own upgraded Accurio 60000, now capable of 6,000 sph.